The Patina wars are once again underway, this time with a 1965 Chevy C10 taking the crown from a Florida-based 1957 Ford F-100 (which itself stole Patina King honors from a 1985 Ford F-250 located in Washington state). Behold an incredible, somehow “rust free” Chevy pickup.
This whole “patina wars” series of stories I’ve been writing is just an excuse to remind you all just how strange of a concept patina is. You can think of it as finely aged cheese — not too “aged” so as to be disgusting, but not too new so as to be boring. Wear, but not tear. Beauty, but not because of perfection but precisely because of the opposite.
Some people will never understand it, and say things like what commenter Jim wrote about the aforementioned 1985 F-250:
Patina looks like shit. It’s a poor excuse for not fixing the rust. I get it. Paint is expensive, but, I’d roll around in a spotted primer heap before I’d let it get as rusted as the truck in the picture.
But poor Jim and those who share his views are depriving themselves of the best type of beauty: soulful beauty.
Oh god, this old Chevy is amazing. It’s a rear-wheel-drive, short bed, “custom cab” C10 with a bench seat, small-block V8, three-speed automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes and air conditioning. It’s the ultimate cruiser, and apparently, it runs and drives well.
The seller on Facebook Marketplace, Randall Skutnick, describes the vehicle’s condition in a way that would likely make Jim blow a gasket in frustration. Here’s a quote from Skutnick’s listing:
Perfect original patina. Truck is from texas. Dry heat baked paint. No Rust. No Rot.
Jim, relax! It’s going to be OK. I know, the truck is literally brown whereas it was clearly originally white. And I know you can’t understand how someone would say that this vehicle isn’t rusty solely because the truck has so much “patina” (a concept that you denounce), but you need to just calm down. The truck isn’t technically rust-free, sure, but it is relatively rust-free. And that still counts!
When I asked Skutnick about his mention that the vehicle has “no rust,” he responded by saying that he was talking about “rust that needs panels replaced or rot that needs to be cut out and welded in new replacement panels.” See? If you define “rust” using those parameters, then the whole notion of what has rust and what has “no rust” completely changes.
As someone who has dealt with severe, structural rust for years, I’m on Skutnick’s side, here. This “rusty” truck has no rust as far as I’m concerned. Hell, I’m so jaded, I’d call this incredible pickup 100 percent corrosion-free; borderline mint. “What’s all the brown stuff on the outside?” you might ask me in an attempt to stump my previous assertion.
Character, that’s what it is. A brown sheen of it draped over the truck by the car gods themselves.
Would I spend $13,900 on this machine, especially given that the wood bed floor has disappeared? And especially given that the passengers-side door has a big dent?
No, no I wouldn’t. But I sure as hell won’t hold it against anyone who does.
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